With all the snow we got dumped on us recently I thought I’d share this with you…

Here are some tips to make shoveling safer:

Always remember to dress warmly. You may be working up a sweat, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to the effects of the cold.

Don’t feel you need to get the whole driveway cleared in one shot. Take breaks every 15 minutes.

Go inside for some hot chocolate, but don’t drink coffee. The caffeine may increase your heart rate and cause your blood vessels to constrict, just like smoking does.

Keep hydrated. Drink plenty of water.

And most importantly, know the warning signs of a heart attack. These may include chest pain, shoulder, neck or arm pain; dizziness, fainting, sweating or nausea; or shortness of breath. And if you think you’re having a heart attack, seek medical help immediately.

When shoveling, it’s important to avoid back strain. The average shovel (loaded with 16 pounds of snow) ends up moving 192 pounds of snow, if you load your shovel about 12 times a minute. That’s almost 2,000 pounds being lifted in just over 10 minutes!

Here is how to shovel properly:

* Lift with your legs, not your back. Bend your knees and keep your back as straight as possible so that the lifting comes from your leg muscles, not your back. Never bend at the waist. Step in the direction that you’re throwing snow. This will help prevent the lower back from twisting and will help alleviate any back soreness that you might typically experience the day after a hard shoveling job.

* Create some distance between the hands. This will give you more leverage and make it easier to lift snow.

* Pick up smaller loads of snow. It’s best to shovel by sections. If you’re shoveling deep snow (a foot or more), take it easy and shovel two or three inches off at a time.

* Do push. Don’t lift. Save your back and your energy by simply pushing the snow to the side instead of lifting the snow and throwing it off to the side.

Got stuck in NC over the weekend on our return from vacation. Seems there was a winter storm in Buffalo so our flight could not land (closed airport). I have no problem understanding that the airline cannot control the weather or the resulting conditions. But here is my pet peeve (Monday’s pet peeve). It bugs the crap out of me when all they do is give you a 1 800 # and move on to the next passanger. Here we were, stuck in a strange city, with 3 children and a 800 number for a hotel. I asked if they had a courtesy phone that I could use.. who told me to speak German. It was if I insulted his mother… “a courtesy phone!” we don’t have one.

Long story short a fellow passenger gave me use of his cell phone and I made the necessary arrangements to get a hotel and transport to it for us.

I’m sure with all the staff the airline had there, they could easliy have helped out every passenger who wanted to get a hotel and in any other way they could make this inconvience more pleasant.� I guess I expect too friggin much.

Our first winter storm for the season and it’s really nasty out there. Southern Ontario is currently under a blanket of ice as it’s been raining since last night (freezing). The trees are almost tounching the gound in our front yard and we’re hoping we don’t loose power soon. We already had the power go out for a few seconds earlier.

Pet Peeve monday…

I have to ask.. why is it that the city knew that there was an oncoming storm (first of the winter, so we know there’s not been any work for them until now), so why are the roads still covered in ice? Why didn’t we have all the salt-trucks out since early in am trying to make driving conditions safe? No! We get a warning on radio and tv..roads are dangerous!

Our city officials and tax money at work again. Keep safe if you have to be out there today.